Lethal Mistake #7: Selecting the Wrong Prospects or Spending an Inappropriate Amount of Time Marketing to Each Group of Prospects

Not everyone on your mailing list will make a donation or a commitment so you must try to focus on those prospects that offer the greatest potential. Remember, the “80/20 Rule” applies to donors as well as respondents in other marketing campaigns. 20% of the donors will contribute 80% of the donations. Therefore, the correct course to take is to spend 80% of your time on that 20%. Find out everything that is relevant to your prospects so you have the best possible outcome. Here’s how to make your campaign more effective.

The more you know about your audience, the more you know what will appeal to them. This is why you must build your own list. Ask questions, invite feedback, offer incentives, share relevant information, explain your objectives and sometimes just ask for suggestions or help. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how, through a list of carefully planned and orchestrated steps, you can move people from being prospects to being advocates.

You may wind up getting more donations from millennials but you’ll probably get larger donations from baby boomers so be sure to tailor your campaign to each demographic group and use the correct metrics for measuring every aspect of the campaign from audience, to media, to message.